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January 2014 Moms
BirdieToldMe
member
Any fellow cystic acne sufferers?
BirdieToldMe
member
Mobile: Any fellow cystic acne sufferers?
My cystic acne is totally out of control. Before anyone recommends their face wash or Belli acne line, let me assure you that topical stuff doesn't generally help cystic acne very much.
Long before getting pregnant, Spironolactone and Retin A had me looking nearly flawless. Years and years ago, Accutane worked wonders; however, I'm now an absolute mess.
I'm pretty much mortified to leave my house. I have a great makeup routine (that I'm forced to do if I want to simply go to my mailbox) but it only covers the redness and not the insanely large bumps all over my face, especially around my chin/jawline.
I'm on Finacea and I do use some Salicylic Acid and Benzoyl Peroxide but it really doesn't help. (Yes, I'm comfortable using those products. They're OTC and not too strong.) I bought a Zeno but I'm very "meh" about its results.
I'm currently washing my face with Cetaphil antibacterial bar soap and either using Finacea or Proactiv at night. I'll occasionally use 2% SA as a spot treatment.
Anyone care to commiserate? I'm totally miserable. My face hurts so badly and I'm so tired of being mortified. I've never tried going dairy free but I have heard that can help. Any insight? I eat a TON of dairy so I'm sort of overwhelmed at the thought of completely giving it up and I'm also worried that it might not be good for the baby. I could cry.
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Re: Any fellow cystic acne sufferers?
BFP#5 Praying for another rainbow in February!
It has been awhile for me, but before getting PG the first time, I was seeing a dermatologist for mine. I tried several different things where some just made it worse & some helped to at least control the swollen/cystic/painful appearances. My face still never really appeared clear.
I used a combo of different things (safe per my Derma.) to continue to at least keep the cystic under control during my first pregnancy. Even tried a "Blue Light" treatment where you sit in front of this blue light for 15 min that is supposed to kill bacteria under the skin. I never really noticed enough of a benefit to justify paying the $50 a pop for them after about 8 weeks at 2x a week.
After I had DS I was nursing so it still limited my options. I decided to give Proavtiv a try. (Approved by my OB) I also switched make up to use Bare Escentuals (Bare Minerals). The combo made a HUGE difference for me & I have never gone back!
Is there a reason you only use the Proactiv at night? Have you tried using it morning & night exclusively? Do you use all 3 steps to the regimen? (cleanser, then toner, then repair treatment).
Per my OB she said Diary can be a huge trigger for acne too. If you are concerned for calcuim, you can get it from other sources other than dairy products or even take a suppliment.
My 2 December boys
If I use Proactiv morning and night, my face peels so badly. I guess I can get my face used to it and keep trying. I don't think Proactiv really does that much to help me. My face is pretty bad. I usually only use the lotion. I sometimes use the toner but I never use the cleanser.
Bare Minerals makes my face itch like CRAZY. I Googled this and I guess it's some ingredient that causes this to happen to some people.
I guess I should try going dairy free and see what happens. Does anyone know how long I should wait to see results before deciding whether it's helped? I'm so overwhelmed about giving up dairy. I eat two hard boiled eggs every day and I drink tons of milk and eat a lot of cheese. Ugh. This should be interesting.
I have an appointment with a new Dermatologist next week. (I'm new to my area.) We'll see if he agrees to try anything new with me. I'm desperate.
Thank you! Yeah, topical stuff just doesn't generally do much for me. Retin A helped but it was likely the Spironolactone and Accutane that truly did the trick. I guess I'll try going dairy free just because it's the only thing I haven't tried. I'll have to do some calcium research to make sure this is safe.
It definitely will be worth it in the end but, in the meantime, I've become a hermit. I don't want to see anyone or go anywhere. I have two kids who I have been trying to keep busy this summer so I inevitably go places and meetup with friends but I just want to crawl under a table anytime I go out. GAH!
AND after five minutes of research, it appears that eggs are not considered dairy. Huh. Who knew? Clearly I have a lot to learn.
Back to Googling...
That's too bad about the makeup. Anything else I tried tended to increase my acne... even the neutrogena makeup that has salicylic acid in it made my face break out.
I know that when starting a new acne product it can be normal to have tender, peely skin for period of time until your skin adjusts. I'd ask your dermatologist about a time frame & see what they think about how long you should give it to see if it calms down. I used to use Differin Gel (0.03%) before I was ever PG & it took a few weeks for my skin to calm down. It often just burned like crazy even just working up a little sweat at the gym!
Sure hope the new Derma can help you out and/or even suggest a make up alternative. Dealing with this type of acne can be so painful. When I became PG, my Derma perscribed the only option they give to PG or nursing moms & it made things worse. That was when I tried the blue light treatments. After that I was basically SOL to them for safe options.
My 2 December boys
I had cystic acne as a result of Mirena a few years ago. I can totally relate to how you feel. The only thing that helped was the Spironolactone. Cystic acne is definitely in a different class than regular acne. For those of you who have never had it, it's like these huge bumps underneath the skin that are so painful, but most of the time they never even fully came to the surface -- at least not for me. And if they do, they cause scarring. They truly are cysts, sometimes the size of peas or even larger. On top of that, most cystic acne sufferers have plain, old regular acne too. The topical stuff only deals with the regular acne in my experience. I never tried a special diet, but let me tell you, I would be willing to try it if my cystic acne returned, because spironolactone is a big no no during pregnancy.
I am so incredibly sorry that you are dealing with this.
some big changes in my lifestyles were as follows:
-don't have a microwave in the house (it changes the foods composition at a molecular level)
-stop dairy (it won't harm the baby). and i am a believer of everything in moderation. so if i feel like ice cream once in a while, i eat ice cream
- increase in veggie/green leaf intake
- did a food sensitivity test and found that we are sensitive to eggs (caused major breakouts for both DH and I)
-drank more water and cut back on sugar intake
-NO processed foods.
seeing a dermatologist will sometimes be a bandaid solution. See someone in natural medicine because they will analyze your hormone levels, your diet etc.
good luck.
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I was actually going to mention this. They do not come from mammary glands.
I also wanted to mention that I read somewhere that trying for 1 to 2 months is a good way to gauge if it's going to work for you. Personally, I wouldn't give up eggs if that is a big part of your diet right now. I would try just going lactose free for 4 weeks and see if it helps. If not, eliminate the eggs for 4 weeks. Or you could go the other way -- eliminate everything for 4 weeks and then add the eggs back in. That's how a true elimination diet works. I just would have a hard time giving up a staple of my diet right now, because personally there seem to be very few things that my stomach can tolerate on a regular basis.
Good luck!
Off topic, I know, but this made me think of it... the same approach is recommended for future breastfeeders who find there is something in your diet causing gassiness for LO. Eggs, dairy & citrus fruits are common offenders for that too.
My 2 December boys
This is me, too! Pre-pregnancy I would only break out around period time but otherwise I was decently clear. Now...ugh- my jawline (and mid/lower back) can't catch a break! It seems to be calming down a LITTLE since I've used a cream based cleanser instead of a scrubby-type one (even though it feels SO good to scrub! hah) and switch moisturizer. But...we shall see I guess. Better than other symptoms I could have, so I try not to complain too much
Thank you, everyone! Thank God I'm not a picky eater. I will truly eat anything and I love fruits/veggies/nuts, etc. It's just going to take a lot of research and changing a lot of my habits to get used to this.
For now, I'm totally overwhelmed at trying this for longer than two weeks, let alone two months; however, I'll just take it one day at a time and keep my (hopefully soon-to-be-cystic-acne-free) chin up! ha! I loooove milk but I'll get used to that Silk stuff, I suppose. I'm going grocery shopping tonight at a Whole Foods-like store so they should have lots of options and I've found some lists from people online who have detailed all their favorite dairy-free stuff. I also just learned that lactose-free is not dairy-free. I was seriously clueless about all of this stuff.
I wish I had a personal chef. This would be so easy if I were a Real Housewife of Beverly Hills. :-)
DH has already said, "Your dairy-free life is going to suck!" but, in all actuality, it really sucks right now. If I can have a clear face and be happy to leave my house again, I'm willing to change my diet. Also, I'm eating total junk right now and the scale is reflecting that. This will probably be a good thing for me. I'm just being a lazy (and depressed) Fatty McFatterson right now and that needs to change. I want to be glowing (not oily) and pregnant!
I did just have one final piece of yellow cake with chocolate frosting and an enormous glass of milk as a goodbye present. It was delicious. Sigh. Onward and upward!
Yes, I've had it since my late 20's... Of course nothing when everyone else had it in high school. Proactive did nothing for me and in fact it made it worse. I finally did accutane and it definitely helped but never cleared it up 100%. It came back a few months later and then we wanted to TTC so we decided we didn't want that in my body, little did we know it would take us years.
Good tips about the dairy, I've actually never heard that. PP comments have been helpful.
I would like to let all of you know that I DO know the difference between you're, your, topic, and topical. UGH. I'm a nut about grammar and all my posts are filled with errors. I fixed the ones I found because I can't have you all thinking I'm a moron. Ha!
Grocery shopping was an interesting experience today. I'm not accustomed to reading labels like that. I found myself pretty hungry today as I sorted everything out.